DME results - opinions needed
 

Hi all,

Long time luker and infrequent poster here. Just wanted to say that this forum is a great resource!

I'm seriously considering getting back into the game with an 06 997S cab.

The PPI with the car checked out well. There are a couple of cosmetic blemishes, but those can all be taken care of easily. The price seems to be pretty good too.

It is a PP with a CPO that expires in Nov '11.

Here are the DME results:

Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 1: 12609 331.1h
Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 2: 1973 187.2h
Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 3: 256 179.1h
Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 4: 11 176.5h
Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 5: 0
Number of ignitions at speed>maximum speed range 6: 0

Total hours 600.800h

The car has approximately 21k.

I've done the research and it seems like there are two camps out there with regards to DME ranges 1-3 - driven like it was meant to vs. abused. I'm in the camp of "driven like it was meant to" so I'm overly concerned with those numbers.

Opinions on ranges 5 and 6 seem to be unanimous that there is a high probability that something will go wrong with the engine later on and/or Porsche will deny any engine warranty work and it is not worth the risk.

Range 4 seems to be the one gray area for me. In this case, it probably happened at around 5k miles so it was a while ago, right around when the car changes hands.

I'm planning on keeping the next car for quite a while >5 years.

Am I just over analyzing the range 4 number? I haven't been able to find anything definitive about the impact of the range 4 number in terms of damaging the engine or Porsche denying coverage.

Any opinions on this specific DME scan would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I don't think it is that bad, it hasn't had an over rev for a while. You have some warranty remaining, will your dealer replace the engine if it needed to based on the current DME? You may also want to look at a third party warranty after the CPO expires.

I would say it does not show if car was abused but does show in what style it was driven - 12K in range 1 is quite a number.

one can expect level of wear to be quite significant, i do not think 12K level 1 overrevs are from street driving and 1 track mile = 100 highway miles. that should be taken to account perhaps.

Level ones are when the driver is late on shifting and bounces it off the rev limiter. I have also seen different types of track drivers, those that drive 5/10 and the others that drive "flat out, that's how I drive, flat out" so not all track miles are created equal.

I currently don't have a relationship with a dealer so I can't say whether they will honor the warranty with this DME. Good suggestion on the 3rd party warranty.

I just got off the phone with a dealer that has another car I'm interested in. He said that any Range 4's would cause a car to be non-CPO'able. That said, when I asked for the DME for the car on his, he told me that the service manager is by the book and will not print out the DME for customers.

Good point about the wear and tear and point well taken. I know it needs a new set of tires, but other than that, I thought the power train on these things are pretty robust and made to withstand this style of driving.

I wouldn't buy from a dealer that wouldn't show me the DME.
Take the car for a test drive and get a PPI at another repair shop and ask them to do a DME scan.

i got my car from a lawyer who never did any sport events, with 39K miles it had number 300 in range 1, 20 or so in range 2 and 0 in 3+. that is how typical highway numbers look like. he drove it reasonably fast but not even close to any extreme.

yes, it is. so i do not say car is 'bad'. it all is just a matter of options, may be an another buying argument for price negotiations. nothing critical.

I would say he drove the car very delicately. A level one over rev is equal to 121.6 - 125 revs per second. So your 300 is just over 2 seconds of over reving. It is nothing for a car that has 39K. The 12000 over revs is about 96 seconds of over rev, this on a car that has 600 hours (or 2,160,000 seconds) is .000004 of it's time in the over rev range.

The reality of it is, the DME scan is only one small part of the inspection that way too many people are getting worked up over. If they can read a level 6 on the DME, then the engine can obviously cycle that high, albeit not for too long I am sure after all it is a Porsche, not a delicate glass statue.

Agreed. The dealer is in Houston and I'm in NY. Anyone out there willing to take a look for me? :rolleyes:

I will definitely do a PPI if we get to the next step.

Thanks

That is what I'm thinking. Let see if the deal in Houston falls through. If it does, then it is back to the 12k range 1 car!

Li Luv Lu Manhilarious


Jim